North Shore Outlook – Developer Onni agrees to second public hearing on North Vancouver Safeway site.

Developer Onni Group will return to North Vancouver city hall for a second go at a public hearing on the company’s divisive Safeway site proposal, after the first hearing was tainted by accusations of bullying and impropriety on all sides.

Onni’s vice-president of development Beau Jarvis made the announcement Monday, citing the “outpouring of support” he said the company received over the holidays for its 13th Street and Lonsdale Avenue condo-tower proposal.

“To be quite blunt, we got a bit of an earful over the holidays from people who had publicly expressed support for the project,” Jarvis said in a press release Monday.

“Their position was simple – ‘we want the project, we went out and supported the project and Onni should not abandon the project until the council has formally said yes or no’. At the end of the day, we could not ignore those voices,” he continued.

Read more: http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/186871082.html

From Bloomberg:

Loblaw Cos. (L)’s planned real-estate spinoff is giving Canada’s largest grocery chain leeway to do acquisitions.

Loblaw plans to put more than C$7 billion ($7.1 billion) of property into a real estate investment trust that will be sold through an initial public offering by mid-2013. While Loblaw will still own more than 80 percent of the REIT, it may receive C$670 million from the deal, according to Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Buying Safeway Inc.’s Canadian unit is logical as Loblaw faces more competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc.  and Target Corp., said Veritas Investment Research Corp. Safeway, a grocer that got 15 percent of its $44 billion of sales in 2011 from Canada, is undervalued after falling 14 percent last year, Bank of Montreal said. Safeway trades at the cheapest price relative to revenue and earnings among North American food retailers larger than $1 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Edward Jones & Co. said closely held Overwaitea Food Group, the western Canadian chain, is another option for Loblaw.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-03/loblaw-buying-canada-safeway-no-pipe-dream-real-m-a.html

North Shore Outlook – Onni intends to quit Lonsdale development.

Onni Group, the developer behind one of the most ambitious and publicly divisive condo plans in North Vancouver history, is expected to announce it will walk away from the lucrative Central Lonsdale project, citing “possibly defamatory” remarks made by two city councillors.

In a Dec. 3 letter obtained by The Outlook, Onni president Rossano De Cotiis told Mayor Darrell Mussatto the company intends to “publicly announce within the next 48 – 72 hours that we are withdrawing our application” for the 13th Street and Lonsdale Avenue redevelopment. De Cotiis blamed his company’s departure on comments made in council by councillors Pam Bookham and Rod Clark.

In his letter, De Cotiis said the problem “goes well beyond a simple disagreement over the issues associated with the project,” and claims the two councillors acted unfairly when they accused Onni of manipulating a public hearing at which Onni staff and supporters spoke in favour of the project.

Read more: http://www.northshoreoutlook.com/news/182046341.html

Safeway site plan gets hearing.

What could be one of the most ambitious development projects in the City of North Vancouver’s recent history is going to the public for consideration.

Despite a substantial list of concerns with Onni’s proposal for two condo towers atop commercial and retail space at the Safeway site at Lonsdale Avenue and 13th Street, council voted 5-2 in favour of sending the project for public feedback on Monday night.

Highrises proposed for Lynn Valley.

Neighbours are being asked to comment on two preliminary development proposals that would see three new highrise towers built in the centre of Lynn Valley.

If approved, the construction of the residential towers would begin transforming the heart of the community into the commercial and residential hub envisioned through about 15 years of planning.

The two projects – both in the “pre-application” stage, according to Bydwell – are being put forward by Safeway and Bosa, the corporate owner of the Zellers property.